Cattles is to close around 70 local management branches and local collections units of its Welcome Financial Services subsidiary across the country.

Cattles will now enter into a consultation process with staff affected by the proposals, with around 450 at risk of redundancy.

The Board of Cattles announced recently that, following an extensive strategic review of its business and subsequent discussions with its financial creditors, it was unable to recommend a business plan which would allow Welcome Finance to continue lending and it would therefore focus on collecting out Welcome’s existing customer loans. It is envisaged that this process could take two to three years and, during that period, the Group’s cost base will contract to reflect the reducing size of the book.

Margaret Young, executive chairman of Cattles, said: “These proposals to further streamline the Welcome organisational structure have been put forward after an extensive review and careful consideration. We believe they are essential to Cattles achieving a more cost efficient business model which mirrors the reducing size of the Group’s loan book.”””